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England's largest woodland planting scheme for 30 years to commence in 2018

Doddington North Moor has been given consent to plant a new 350-hectare forest

The Forestry Commission has approved England's largest woodland planting scheme for 30 years, with more than 600,000 trees to be planted in Northumberland.

Over the next two years, England’s largest woodland planting scheme will begin in Doddington North Moor in Northumberland.

Doddington North Moor has been given consent to plant a new 350-hectare forest near Wooler. The forest, which will span the equivalent of over 650 football fields, aims to enhance populations of the iconic red squirrel, while storing over 120,000 tonnes of carbon and helping to manage flood risk in the area.

With the forestry and timber processing industry a major employer in the region, the project is also set to bring a boost to local businesses and will generate a number of new jobs.

It joins another project that has just been approved this week in the Lake District, with government funding helping the Lowther Park Estate plant more than 200,000 trees over 170 hectares of their land.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey welcomed the decision, saying: "Our forests and woodlands are some of our most vital and cherished natural assets, and planting more trees is at the heart of our ambition to protect the environment for future generations.

"Doddington North Moor will make a significant contribution to our drive to plant 11 million trees across the nation and is a fantastic example of the kind of tree planting schemes we want to see more of. I hope this will signal a wave of similar projects to come forward and help other landowners realise the benefits of woodland creation.

Planting at Doddington is expected to begin in March 2018 and will be phased over the next two to three years.

Doddington has been developed over the last two years with support from the government’s Woodland Creation Planning Grant. It anticipated the planting will be funded through other schemes such as the Woodland Carbon Fund and Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant.

Under the Countryside Stewardship scheme landowners can apply for up to £6,800 per hectare to plant more trees